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Thomas Cook North America and Jazz Air LP agree to flight partnership

Introduces Thomas Cook Airline Brand to serve Sunquest Customers

TORONTO, April 5 /CNW/ - Thomas CookCanada Inc. and Jazz Air LP (Jazz), have signed a flight services agreement for Jazz to operate flights to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America on behalf of Thomas Cook's tour operator Sunquest Vacations. The agreement is conditional on Jazz obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.

The agreement is effective November 1, 2010, to serve the winter vacation season of 2010/2011 and may extend for up to five years. Jazz will operate a fleet of up to 11 B757 jets from gateways across Canada and will be branded as Thomas Cook Airlines from January 2011.

Jazz is a major Canadian airline, currently flying to more than 80 destinations in North America - more than any other carrier in the country. It has a commercial agreement to operate flights on behalf of Air Canada across Canada and into the United States. Jazz has more than 4,900 employees serving more than 8.8 million passengers, and had revenues of $1.4 billion in 2009.

"We're extremely proud to be partnering with Jazz to offer our passengers high-quality in-flight services as part of the full Sunquest vacation experience," said Michael Friisdahl, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas CookNorth America, a division of Thomas Cook Group plc, one of the world's largest leisure travel companies with annual sales of more than $13 billion. "Jazz is recognized and respected across Canada and has the highest on-time performance among Canadian carriers. They share our values emphasizing safety, service, integrity and environmental responsibility. Through the combined operational and financial strength of Thomas Cook and Jazz, we will offer Sunquest customers innovative and dependable vacation packages."

"Thomas Cook is the world's leading travel brand and we are very pleased that Jazz will be operating aircraft that will soon carry the Thomas Cook name," Mr Friisdahl said. "Thomas Cook Airlines operates a total of 93 aircraft worldwide and is well-regarded for its high standards of quality and service."

"We are delighted that Thomas Cook has selected Jazz as its flying partner. Thomas Cook and Sunquest are known for their exacting customer service standards and we look forward to giving those customers an outstanding and seamless flying experience," said Joe Randell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jazz Air LP. "The opportunity to satisfy Thomas Cook and its customers is integral to our growth and diversification strategy."

Through the Thomas Cook Airline brand, operated by Jazz Air LP, Sunquest will be able to offer superior in-flight service from a wider range of Canadian communities to sun destinations. Further details on our products and services, resulting from the partnership with Jazz, will be announced in the near future.

Mr. Friisdahl added: "We are combining the award-winning Sunquest Vacations, with the recognized quality of the Thomas Cook Airline brand and Jazz's industry-leading airline operations to create a unique consumer experience that will not be matched in the Canadian marketplace."

About Thomas Cook

Thomas CookNorth America is a division of Thomas Cook Group plc, one of the world's leading leisure travel groups with sales of C$13.4 billion, 22.3 million customers and 31,000 employees. Its travel businesses in Canada include Sunquest Vacations, Fun Sun Vacations, Exotik Tours and Bel Air Travel. With a network of over 3,400 owned and franchised travel stores and interests in 86 hotels and resort properties, Thomas Cook operates in 21 countries including Canada and the United States. For more information, visit www.thomascookgroup.ca or www.thomascookgroup.com.

About Jazz Air

Jazz Air has a strong history in Canadian aviation with its roots going back to the 1930s. Since becoming publicly traded in February 2006, it has generated some of the strongest operational and financial results in the North American aviation industry. Under a capacity purchase agreement with Air Canada, Jazz provides service to and from lower-density markets as well as higher-density markets at off-peak times throughout Canada and to and from certain destinations in the United States. Jazz currently operates scheduled passenger service on behalf of Air Canada with approximately 800 departures per weekday to over 80 destinations in Canada and in the United States with a fleet of Canadian-made Bombardier aircraft. For more information, visit www.flyjazz.ca.